Antenna For Picking up Magnetic Resonance Signals and Provided With Its Own Communication Unit

• US 20090121713A1
• Filed: 04/07/2006
• Published: 05/14/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/15/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Inventors: Van Helvoort, Marinus Johannes Adrianus
• Granted Patent: US 7,667,463 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 324/309
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/341 comprising surface coils
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/3692 involving signal transmission without using electrically conductive connections, e.g. wireless communication or optical communication of the MR signal or an auxiliary signal other than the MR signal
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/22 by structural association with other equipment or articles
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 23/00 Antennas with active circuits or circuit elements integrated within them or attached to them
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 7/00 Loop antennas with a substantially uniform current distribution around the loop and having a directional radiation pattern in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the loop
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 9/30 with feed to end of elongated active element, e.g. unipole H01Q9/44 takes precedence

Abstract

An RF receiver antenna (1), notably for use in an magnetic resonance imaging system for picking up magnetic resonance signals comprises a resonant pick-up circuit and communication unit (2) to transmit and/or receive data and including a transmit/receive antenna integrated in the resonant pick-up circuit.

Claims

1. An RF receiver antenna for picking up magnetic resonance signals comprising:

a resonant pick-up circuit,

a communication unit (4to transmit and/or receive data and including a transmit/receive antenna integrated in the resonant pick-up circuit.

2. An RF receiver antenna as claimed in claim 1, wherein

the communication unit is arranged to operate at a carrier wavelength band,

the resonant pick-up circuit includes several circuit segments that are mutually interrupted, and

at least one of the circuit segment having an effective length of about one quarter carrier wavelength or of about one half carrier wavelength.

3. An RF receiver antenna as claimed in claim 1, wherein

the communication unit is arranged to operate at a carrier wavelength band,

the resonant pick-up circuit includes several circuit segments that are mutually interrupted

at least one interruption having a partly inductive coupling between its adjacent circuit segments, and

at least one of the adjacent circuit segments having a physical length of about one quarter carrier wavelength or of about one half carrier wavelength.

4. An RF receiver antenna as claimed in claim 1, wherein

the communication unit is arranged to operate

at a transmission carrier wavelength band for transmission of data, and

at a receiver carrier wavelength band for receipt of data.

5. A magnetic resonance imaging system comprising an RF receiver antenna as claimed in claim 1.